Faces in New Places: The Biggest Names on New Teams in 2025 MLB Season

Baseball is back.

Opening Day of the 2025 MLB season is just a day away, which means the satisfying sound of the crack of the bat, the smell of ballpark food and the sounds of America's pastime will soon be hitting the senses.

Thanks to a frenzied winter meetings and free agency period, there was quite a bit of player movement this offseason, particularly involving the game's biggest names.

Here's a refresher on some of MLB's biggest and most recognizable names who will be sporting new threads on Opening Day and throughout the '25 campaign.

Without further ado, let's play ball!

OF Juan Soto, New York Yankees to New York Mets

After a career year in the Bronx for the Yankees, Soto packed his bags and headed for another of New York's boroughs, Queens and the New York Mets on a record, $765 million contract. Everyone—O.K., maybe not Yankees fans—is excited to see the kind of numbers Soto produces while batting in between Mets All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor and two-time Home Run Derby champion Pete Alonso.

He'll officially don Mets threads for the first time in the regular season when New York travels to Houston to take on the Astros on Thursday.

SP Max Scherzer, Texas Rangers to Toronto Blue Jays

Injuries limited Scherzer to just nine starts in '24, his final season with the Rangers. After hitting free agency for the third time in his career, the three-time Cy Young Award winner in January agreed to a one-year deal with the Blue Jays.

A bout of thumb soreness briefly had Scherzer's status for his first start of the regular season in jeopardy, but the veteran right-hander is expected to toe the rubber in his new threads against the Baltimore Orioles on March 29.

Fans are excited to see if the eight-time All-Star can continue to age like the finest of wines in '25.

SP Justin Verlander, Houston Astros to San Francisco Giants

Verlander's successful tenure with the Astros came to a disappointing end in an injury-riddled campaign in which the three-time Cy Young Award winner was ultimately left off of Houston's wild-card playoff roster.

Verlander will look to return to form with the San Francisco Giants, with whom he agreed to a one-year contract worth $15 million in January.

Not only will the veteran righthander be looking to help the Giants return to the postseason for the first time since '21, but also he will also be continuing his quest to join one of baseball's most exclusive groups: the 300-win club—Verlander sits at 262 career victories.

SP Blake Snell, San Francisco Giants to Los Angeles Dodgers

Snell, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, went from one National League West team to another when he agreed to a $182 million contract with the Dodgers in November, bolstering the defending champions' already strong pitching rotation.

The Dodgers announced earlier this week that Snell would take the ball for the club's stateside opener on Thursday against the Detroit Tigers. That means that MLB fans won't have to wait long to see the star pitcher in his new uniform in regular season action.

OF Cody Bellinger, Chicago Cubs to New York Yankees

Bellinger, the 2019 NL MVP, was one of several big-name additions the Yankees made after the club lost the bidding war for Soto. The '25 campaign will be a special season for Bellinger and his family, as the newest Yankees star's father played for the Bronx Bombers for three seasons beginning in 1999, winning two World Series with New York. Now, the younger Bellinger will come full circle when he dons the pinstripes on Thursday against the Milwaukee Brewers at Yankee Stadium.

3B Alex Bregman, Houston Astros to Boston Red Sox

Bregman stayed in the American League when he inked a $120 million contract with the Red Sox, reuniting the two-time World Series champion with Boston manager—and former Astros bench coach—Alex Cora.

A two-time All-Star and Gold Glove winner, Bregman brings skill at the dish and at the hot corner, as well as experienced leadership to a Red Sox club that looks to be among the AL's most-improved teams entering '25.

The exciting times in Beantown begin on Opening Day against the Texas Rangers, when Bregman will take the field for a regular season game in a different uniform for the first time in his career.

OF Kyle Tucker, Houston Astros to Chicago Cubs

Tucker was dealt from the Astros to the Cubs in a December 2024 blockbuster, ushering in a new era for the three-time All-Star. Tucker, who boasts a career .868 OPS and has a Gold Glove and World Seres title on his resume, is among the game's best outfielders. MLB fans have already seen Tucker in Cubs threads in the regular season during the Tokyo Series against the Dodgers, but the 27-year-old will make his stateside debut with the club against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Opening Day.

SP Corbin Burnes, Baltimore Orioles to Arizona Diamondbacks

After an All-Star season with the Orioles, Burnes, who owns a house in Arizona, inked a $210 million contract with the Diamondbacks this offseason. The '21 NL Cy Young Award winner and one of the game's best pitchers, Burnes is the ace the Diamondbacks rotation was missing. Because of what Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo called a "technical error" on his part, Burnes won't make his debut for the club until April 1 against the Yankees.

SS Willy Adames, Milwaukee Brewers to San Francisco Giants

After four seasons with the Brewers during which he blossomed into the one of the best power-hitting shortstops in MLB, Adames cashed in with the Giants on a franchise-record, $182 million contract this offseason. He'll make his Giants regular season debut on Opening Day against the Cincinnati Reds.